The Rumble Pack Posts

Down one Justin, but the other four stand strong. This week, Tony beats a game (nothing new), Tom starts a Geometric War, Nick made love to some Capcom and Kaz finds himself ambling back to Crystal Chronicles. The awesome foursome also talk about the Return of Das Boot and its utter creepiness.

In the second half, the crew touches on the light and the dark side of nostalgia. There’s also some extended talk about the up and coming Mario Kart Wii, and the good/bad/ugly of power slide dashing. Ready? Set? GO!

Hey everyone. I just wanted to pop on here and say sorry for the blog delay this week! It’s been kind of busy, and I’ve got guests coming this weekend, so look for something towards the beginning of next week!

Oh, and my brawl code is 4811-6614-4574, for anyone who wants to add me! See ya soon!

Full cast and crew for this episode. Tom talks all about Bioshock and how it feels to be finishing the big boy games. Justin talks about the latest Saturn gaming craze infecting his fellow travellers in China. Tony pimps Patapon , and yes, that sounds dirty. Nick talks about his religious experience with the TMNT arcade game and mentions Megaman. Kaz proves you can download a movie without being a pirate.

In the second half of the show Nick, Tony, Kaz and Tom take the reigns in a no-holds-barred discussion of Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Which leads to a related discussion that will continue on next weeks “On the Mind”.

Talking about this week’s releases, download games and Rock Band content round out an excellent episode.

Disclaimer: Due to the loss of Justin’s file this episode is disjointed.. He does not appear in the first half of the show but is present in the second half of the show. None of the rest of the cast appears fazed by this because when we recorded he was there the whole time.

Nick, Tom, Tony and Kaz start the show off by yammering about all the games they’ve been playing. From Megaman games to Patapon to Audiosurf and even moldy oldies like Bioshock. The second half of the show contains all the important happenings in the industry and a discussion that continues our “Games As” series.  Not a discussion of games as something, but a discussion of racial inequality in games today, where the industry should go and what steps are being made now. Enjoy a slightly slim, more fit episode of The Rumble Pack!

It’s been a very busy week.

3 out of 4 nights have involved overtime and I haven’t taken lunch in about 3 days. I was so exhausted tonight, that I missed a monthly night out with my fraternity brothers. I also haven’t played a game in days. If it were any other week, I think I’d be at the end of my rope.

But not this week. Oh no, not this week.

You see, I’m currently trying to complete a project at work – one that should have been finished weeks ago, but thanks to certain circumstances (you’ll have to private message me for them), it’s getting crammed into this week. I’ve seriously been working like a dog trying to get it finished by friday. Because Monday, I’m not showing up for work.

Monday is all mine.

That’s right, I’m making my own mini-vacation, and it officially starts at 5:00 tomorrow.

Of course, the main event is Saturday at midnight.

So you’ll have to excuse me for the short blog entry this week – every ounce of energy I have that’s not being consumed by work is being stored for this weekend. And trust me – I’m going to need it.

Remember to send me your friend codes.

I’ll see ya on the other side.

The dust of GDC has settled. From Microsoft, we have release dates and news about Gears 2, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Fable 2. Nintendo saw it fit to see us fit in May (see what I did there?) and told us when we’d be seeing Wii-ware titles. Perhaps the most surprising news at GDC was, ironically, the lack of news from Sony. Having just experienced a great holiday season and riding on momentum from January’s NPD’s, Sony was in prime position to unveil some big news/release dates pertaining to MGS 4, Little Big Planet and of course, Home – the latter two were unveiled at GDC for the first time last year.

So what happened? Were there unexpected problems with the software involved? Are they waiting until their “Gamer’s Day” conference to make any big announcements? Or perhaps Sony simply wished to keep its presence at GDC close to what the main purpose of the whole event was – a convention by developers, for developers, without turning it into the next E3. Or maybe they just didn’t have their stuff together.

A heavy work-week for our regular editor can’t keep a good cast down! Nick, Tom and Tony handle the editing this week, so be sure to note how awesome it is. Don’t worry, we learned so it will never be this delayed again ever…promise…seriously.

Episode 33 of the Rumble Pack starts with a recounting of a hilarious prank on Tony (which occurred literally moments before the show) followed by a rather quick round of trays (only 50 minutes this time, we promise!). After the break comes our very own GDC postmortem and a discussion of the future releases we’re excited for, with a bit of random game-related banter thrown in for good measure.

You asked for it, and here it is (about 6 days later than ever intended): a new episode that’s under 2 hours! Don’t delay, download today!

That’s right everyone.

After months of waiting and stress, the day of arrival seems to have come at last. They say he’ll be delivered on Friday.

It seems funny now that I think about it. Debating whether or not I was ready…

if it was worth it or not…

whether I was ready to make this kind of commitment.

But there’s no looking back now.

Come this weekend, I’ll be a father.

OF A MANBOX 360! (Imagery: Me holding up the 360 in the middle of a stadium full of bald and or bearded men who are cheering wildly, violently high-fiving each other, chugging beers and shooting machine guns straight into the air)

My proudest moment: Unga-bunga.

Ya know what the best part is?

My baby is being delivered by this man:

Oh. my. god.

Full cast, full time job to edit.

All five cast members return to have and be serious at the same time. Justin shares some details of his trip to Tokyo, buying Saturn games and playing in strange things called arcades. Tony delves into Pheonix Wright (making this the hundredth time this series has been mentioned on teh podcast). Tom and Kaz discuss Wipeout Pulse. Nick talks up Final Fantasy Tactics. And Kaz defends his honor concerning Uncharted, and barely gets to talk about his Professor Layton obsession.

Part two of the podcast brings a return to the “Games As” series as we delve into what seems to be the big topic around the gaming horn: stories in games. Everyone brings a unique view on the medium and the conversation goes to show just how complex gaming can be and specifically how we interact with games. Serious discussion is then followed by our GDC wish-list (we recorded Monday night). And an argument over backwards compatibility.

This week’s show includes our proof of concept themes, let us know what you think on the board.